Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 485 posts

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#391

Post by bigstrat2003 »

ghaff wrote: post #369
wrp wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in Hokkaido many years ago for work and loved it. Compared to the rest of Japan, indoor/outdoor spaces are wider, food is better, and people are friendlier. I never could swing another work visit, so I dream about spending time there in retirement. I could imagine, though, that companies might have trouble attracting quality talent to Hokkaido, because people see more opportunities in the big cities down south.…

The same could probably be said of many areas of the US (or other countries). Good outdoor recreation opportunities, some good local food options, but not a huge number of (local) employment opportunities or the nearby options that density brings. As you say, if you can work remotely, it may be fine but it's a different situation from working in a hub of whatever your specialty is.

> As you say, if you can work remotely, it may be fine but it's a different situation from working in a hub of whatever your specialty is.

The question is: is that actually a problem with Japanese work culture? That would be a large problem in US work culture because there's no loyalty from your employer, so you have to be prepared to find a new job at any moment. But it certainly used to be the case that if you worked for BigCorp, you could reasonably expect to work there for the rest of your life if you wanted. And under those conditions, it doesn't matter if the area is a hub for your job specialty.

I know Japan at least used to have a work culture where companies would be loyal to their employees, based on patio11's excellent blog post on how Japanese business culture differs from that of the US. But that was many years ago now, so I don't know if the culture in Japan is still like that or if it has changed.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#392

Post by fastasucan »

octaane wrote: post #387
tonyhart7 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

non sense Google deepmind headquarter is located in Europe, US tech dominance just that good to attract talent all of europe You can see list of AI researcher that comes from europe+asia

Notably though, Deepmind is based in London, UK - not the EU.

London is inside England, which is an european country.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#393

Post by adrian_b »

forgotoldacc wrote: post #364
adrian_b wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Okinawans are a branch of Japanese, but the Ryukyu kingdom was tributary to the Chinese empire before being annexed by Japan in the second half of the 19th century. Before being annexed by Japan one century and a half ago, the culture of Okinawa was much more strongly influenced by China than by Japan, which is why during the first few decades after being occupied by Japan there still were many in Okinawa who wou…

This completely ignores a lot of history. Okinawa went from being a tributary (trade partner) of China to vassal state (occupied and controlled) by Japan in 1609. [1] What would be modern day Afghanistan and Thailand paid tribute to China as well, but for some reason, those are ignored with the Chinese claim to territory. It's simply "well the Republic of China's victory in WW2 means we get land from countries we tra…

After the war from 1609, Ryukyu remained officially a vassal of China, not of Japan, even if it became secretly also a vassal of the Satsuma domain from Japan (not of the Japanese state).

This dual allegiance of Ryukyu, openly to China and secretly to Satsuma allowed Ryukyu to be an intermediary in some commerce between China and Japan, which officially was forbidden.

The official occupation of Ryukyu by Japan happened only in 1872, after the Meiji Restoration.

After 1609, there was no occupation of Ryukyu by Japanese. There was only a permanent threat of military intervention from Satsuma if the Ryukyuan king would have dared to act against the demands of Satsuma, which included a tribute and unfavorable commercial relationships.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#394

Post by mrguyorama »

jack_tripper wrote: post #16
voidfunc wrote: post #2

Is Hokkaido defensible? Once China solves the Taiwan problem they're going to turn their sights on Korea and Japan.

What's with all this scaremongering around China gonna invade everything anytime soon? How many wars has China started? In my lifetime I've only seen one major county besides Russia having a habbit of starting illegal wars whenever geopolitics doesn't go its way and it's not China.

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLA_Navy_landing_barges

These do not have a non-hostile invasion purpose. China could have used these peacefully as some sort of "Look at how peaceful we are" PR in getting aid into Palestine, like the US's floating piers, and likely had better results, but they didn't, because these are war machines for invading Taiwan.

Almost all other military buildup China has done can be validly called protecting itself from a US blockade and maintain an ability to protect shipping, but these barges cannot be considered anything else.

>What's with all this scaremongering around China gonna invade everything anytime soon?

China has publicly declared their intentions to take back Taiwan, and publicly declared their intent to be militarily competitive with the United States, and publicly bitches and moans whenever anyone treats Taiwan as the independent country it is.

Stop squeezing your eyes shut.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#395

Post by barrenko »

indoordin0saur wrote: post #334
tdeck wrote: post #265

Why are all the comments here so weird? It's like people saw (but didn't read) an article entitled "Man Opens a Taqueria in his Hometown" and the only responses are 1) Why didn't he open it in my hometown? This location isn't convenient for me. 2) Wouldn't it be better for someone else to open a taqueria instead? My cousin is looking for work. Shouldn't we be putting resources into helping him open a restaurant inste…

I'll try and add something positive: Hokkaido seems like a great place to relocate and start a life for young aspiring workers. Homes are larger and quality of life has some advantages over the more densely populated parts of Japan. It's also very unique in terms of climate and geography: very heavy snows and mountains means there's limitless adventure for skiers and snowboarders. Yet, despite the snowy winters the w…

If you're a talent manager in AI space and looking for an engineer (EU) to relocate to Hokkaido, kindly contact me.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#396

Post by indoordin0saur »

inglor_cz wrote: post #377
echelon wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hokkaido seems like a great place to relocate and start a life for young aspiring workers. I taught English in Tokachi (Obihiro, Makubetsu-cho, Satsunai, Ikeda) a few decades ago and it was absolutely a dream. It's pristine farmland and country filled with crystal clear rivers and surrounded on all sides by snowcapped mountains. Fields that stretch forever. Hot springs. The freshest food. Fishing. Low cost of livin…

Your description makes me wonder how Southern Sachalin would look like today if it didn't fall to the Soviets in 1945.

I really find it disappointing that Sakhalin didn't end up under the control of Japan as it's a natural extension of the archipelago and I feel like the Japanese could have done some cool things with it.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#397

Post by constantcrying »

sofixa wrote: post #384
constantcrying wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are still arguing the status quo. By export I meant export to countries outside the EU, where Chinese and European EVs compete fairly. To believe that the European car industry will survive purely on brand recognition is foolish and all current trends indicate otherwise. The Chinese are cars at the same quality for 70% if the price. That is obviously not sustainable and no amount of brand loyalty will overcome th…

> status quo Yes, we're talking about the current reality and trends about the future. Which is it, are EU manufacturers at large on the decline, or am I too focused on the current reality that they're doing okay, with exceptions? > Making worse cars at higher prices can not work. Who is talking about worse cars or brand loyalty? A Renault 5 or Renault 4 are objectively good cars that sell well based on their perform…

In the end I think outlet disagreement is this:

I believe that a Chinese car of the same quality, sold for 70% of the price of a European made car, will outperform the European car in every market, where those cars compete on equal footing. You disagree with that for reasons unfathomable to me.

I believe that the European export economy is vital for its prosperity. 45% of Germany's 1 trillion+ exports are to countries outside of the EU. You believe that loosing that economy can be made up in other ways, again for reasons which are unfathomable to me.

I do not think any evidence I could provide to you could convince you otherwise. That you are lying about what I said (e.g. that cost is the only thing that matters for cars or that European products are of lower quality) makes me not want to talk to you at all.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#398

Post by MangoToupe »

SllX wrote: post #335
MangoToupe wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From that perspective, the ROC is the legitimate government of Beijing. No. I don't understand how you came to this conclusion. Both governments claim legitimacy and only one has actual sovereignty.

In practice, they are both sovereign over separate territories.

With respect to Beijing, only one does.

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#399

Post by MangoToupe »

n4r9 wrote: post #362
MangoToupe wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps you have an unusual opinion? I live in the US. I think it's pretty obvious the PRC is more competent in every way than our own government is. And from what I've seen of the ROC parliament, it is also an embarrassment to their own people

If you live in the US, supporting a Chinese invasion is definitely unusual. > the PRC is more competent in every way I guess it depends what you mean by competent. Dictatorships can be frightfully competent at certain things, but that doesn't make them a good place to be. We're talking about a country that is genociding its own Uyghur ethnic group, represses Tibetan culture, disappears its own elite athletes, and has…

> The US is far from perfect, but has nothing on China in terms of nastiness.

I think you have this reversed, friend. Our culture is based on violence and death. Theirs is based on stability and prosperity.

> That's not even touching the biggest problem of dictatorship, which is what happens when Dear Leader takes a fall. I doubt Xi has much more than a decade of leadership in him, and I worry for the Chinese populace when he goes.

I pray he liberates us before he passes. I agree it's not likely but.... one must maintain hope in this world

Re: Japan's gamble to turn island of Hokkaido into global chip hub

#400

Post by MangoToupe »

haspok wrote: post #309
MangoToupe wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps you have an unusual opinion? I live in the US. I think it's pretty obvious the PRC is more competent in every way than our own government is. And from what I've seen of the ROC parliament, it is also an embarrassment to their own people

> I live in the US. I think it's pretty obvious the PRC is more competent in every way than our own government is. Yes, and you wouldn't be able to express your political opinion (like you do here on HN or anywhere else) if you were living in China. People living in the US tend to overlook that minute detail.

> you wouldn't be able to express your political opinion (like you do here on HN or anywhere else) if you were living in China

Being able to express our opinion doesn't mean much if nothing ever changes or improves

Post reply on HN